Monthly Archives: August 2012

Today, on episode 32 of Tweep Nation, we are joined by author, writing teacher and editor Rayne Hall. There are a couple of first for this show.

Number 1: Rayne is the first guest with a German accent and

Number 2: There was no swearing.

What? I hear you ask. No swearing. How could that be, it’s Amber and Dionne we’re talking about. Well, Rayne was so polite that we were too. Don’t let that stop you listening though, because we’re still all very interesting, especially when I reveal the extent to which my Alzheimer’s has progressed.

Hello! Now, we all know I’m not an erotica author. I tend to leave the steamy sex scenes out of my work, kind of like going to the toilet and blowing your nose. I am, however, friends with a few erotica and romance authors, and they’ve corrupted me. Yes. You heard right. They have corrupted me! I’m part of the newly formed 4 Whips. The other talented (and gorgeous) members are Melissa Craig, Amber Norrgard and Charity Parkerson.

We’re running a short story competition to find approximately six short stories for a free anthology that will be published as an e-book. As part of the deal, the four of us are writing our own stories to be included in the ‘package’. So, although I’ve edited erotica before, I’ve never actually written it and this will be my first foray into the genre (I hope I get out alive and not too dishevelled).

This is my drawing of what I think a turkey slap is (okay so maybe I’m naive).

The basics are that the short story must be betweet 500 and 1000 words, have a sex scene and include the words ‘turkey slap’. For full details of the competition please visit Charity’s site and the 4 Whips page. There are prizes for the winners, other than publication in our awesome book. So have some fun and enter (guys don’t be shy). We can’t wait to read your stories.

This week, on episode 31 of Tweep Nation, we entertained Ben Ditmars and he entertained us with his amazing poetry. He’s an author who has self-published four books. We tried hard to talk about him but as you know, we have trouble sticking on topic. We managed to talk about roadkill, sex changes and school (interesting combination don’t you think?). Join us for another hilarious and informative episode. I’d also like to thank Bobbi Jo for saving the day at the last minute and doing Days of the Week.

He, he, our guest today, on episode 30, was the fabulous Kelly Calloway: poet, English teacher and beauty salon owner. Boy did she have some hilarious stories to tell that involved waxing, butt cheeks and tents.

Bobby Jo gave an impromptu reading. We didn’t expect her to turn up, but Amber asked and wouldn’t you know, she was close by. We also found out that Miss Kelly hasn’t actually listened to our show before (off to the naughty corner with you!). We were able to set her straight on what goes on and I’m sure she’s a convert now. There is a lot of snorting on today’s show, so have an extra bottle handy. Get those shot glasses ready and turn on Tweep Nation.

Drum roll… And now, I would like to announce, I have a new book out! Dark Spaces. This was a surprise to me. I had an idea that I wanted to gather all my short stories and a couple of my flash fiction and bundle them together in one collection. But I thought it would happen in a few weeks. When, all of a sudden, I was picking a cover photo and Amber Jerome-Norrgard was doing the writing on the cover (thanks Amber) I realised it was happening now!

I love my cover, and can’t believe it turned out so well. Amber can attest to that, as I’m very picky. After making her adjust the placement of the text a few times, she labelled the file “dionneanalretentive”. The cover lets you know what to expect: suspense, increased heart-rate, and some psychopathic characters.

Anyway, I found myself uploading the book to Smashwords and Amazon on a day that was not set-aside for this. Where did that come from? How did it happen? Hmm, maybe that’s fitting, seeing as it’s a book of suspenseful stories. As usual, I surprised myself. The next shock came when it was available on Smashwords approximately fifteen minutes after I pressed ‘publish’. I would have fallen over, had I not been sitting down, because I had two sales within fifteen minutes of going live!

I would like to thank the supportive peeps who have already bought my book. I hope you grab onto your e-readers, desperate to know what’s going to happen next, and I’m sorry if any of my stories make you cry.

So, I’m excited! I have two books out. If you had told me, a year ago, that I would have self-published two books by now I would not only have laughed, but called for someone to get you a psyche evaluation. Funny how life surprises us sometimes, isn’t it?

Hey Everyone, hope you’re all well. I’m excited to tell you about a fantastic new book club—Club Fantasci. The club was born a few weeks ago. The proud father is David Lowry and his posse of intelligent, gorgeous co-hosts are Ciara Ballintyne, Shannon Million and myself, ahem.

Club fantasci covers all fantasy genres: from sword and sorcery to paranormal romance and sci fi. If you’re into any of these genres there’s sure to be something for you over the course of the year.Anyway, we read a book a month and then have a Google+ hangout to discuss our thoughts. These discussions are bound to get interesting because we’re all rather opinionated.

Club Fantasci members (and anyone else who’s curious) can send us tweets or messages on Goodreads or facebook to tell us what they think of the book, and watch our monthly discussion. There is also a ‘wine of the month’ featured (and no, you don’t have to be drunk to watch us, but it might help) and we try and pick a song we think goes with the book (but there won’t be any singing).

We plan to make it lots of fun. Our first meeting is on 31st August, 7 pm (Californian time), which happens to be 10 am Saturday morning Sydney time. The first book we’re reading is Erin Morgenstern’s—The Night Circus.

We can’t wait to see you, so join up now! (that might look like an order, but it’s more of an earnest request really).

Gee, is it that time again? Another week, another Tweep Nation podcast. This time we were joined by Deena Schoenfeldt and Mark Rice. After the shock of Amber’s confession wore off, we almost saw our first marriage on the podcast. It was also the first time we discussed getting your novel translated-it’s actually happening for Mark. His book Metallic Dreams has had some amazing reviews and is being translated into Greek! Deena runs ebookbuilders-a site dedicated to helping indies format their hard work into a book that looks gorgeous on a kindle. So join as as we giggle and groan our way through another fun episode.